Research Article

Role of calcium in increasing tolerance of Hyacinth bean to salinity

Myrene R. D'souza and Devaraj V. R.

Abstract

In many crop species, supplemental Ca2+ alleviates the inhibition of growth in plants subjected to NaCl stress. This work assesses the ameliorating effect of CaCl2 on NaCl-stressed seedlings of Hyacinth bean. Ten day old seedlings were stressed either solely with NaCl (100-500 mM NaCl) or with NaCl (100-500 mM NaCl) + CaCl2 (10 mM) and compared with control and CaCl2 (10 mM) treated seedlings. Seedlings were harvested at time intervals of 24, 48 and 72 h after stress for analysis. NaCl-stressed seedlings showed reduced growth as indicated by growth index and relative water content (RWC) while a comparatively less decline in these parameters was seen in seedlings stressed with supplemental CaCl2. An enhancement in levels of H2O2, MDA, GSH, ASC, TSS and photosynthetic pigments noted in stressed seedling supplemented with CaCl2 was evident of its role in ameliorating salinity stress. Supplementation was also found to increase the activity of metabolic enzyme AMY paving the way for partial amelioration of stress caused by salinity.